Microsoft working on new Cloud gaming service

Microsoft and Electronic Arts used their own pre-E3 press conferences to tease users about their plans to offer game streaming services that, in theory, would offer console-level games to smartphones ....

To expand possibilities in the Internet based gaming industry, tech giant Microsoft has said it is working on a new Cloud gaming service as it showcased its commitment to invest in gaming and announced studio acquisitions, tons of new games.

The announcement was made by Microsoft ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018, the world's leading video game show, that is scheduled to held at the Los Angeles Convention Centre from June 12-14.

Microsoft and Electronic Arts used their own pre-E3 press conferences to tease users about their plans to offer game streaming services that, in theory, would offer console-level games to smartphones and other devices.

Earlier in May, EA announced it had acquired the cloud gaming technology assets and personnel of the GameFly service for an undisclosed amount. While under its former parent GameFly, the team developed technology to stream PC games to Samsung and LG smart TVs, along with Amazon’s Fire TV devices. It’s likely that EA will use that technology as the basis for its own game streaming service.

According to Phil Spencer, Microsoft's Gaming Chief, the company is working hard at building a streaming game service for any device.

"Our cloud engineers are building a game streaming network to unlock console gaming on any device and the service will work across Xbox, PCs or phones," Spencer was quoted as saying by The Verge late on Sunday.

Cloud streaming is the way AAA developers (video game industry) and Microsoft are hoping to reach billions of mobile devices that are traditionally known for transitory experiences.

"We are dedicated to perfecting your experience everywhere you want to play -- your Xbox, your PC and your phone," he added.

The company, however, did not give a specific timeline on when the service will be available. Notably, many companies have tried and failed to create a game streaming service and it is a challenging thing to get right.

Sony acquired streaming games service "OnLive" only to shut it down and previously acquired Gaikai which eventually became part of its "PlayStation Now" service, according to The Verge.